GTS Securities LLC Lowers Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

GTS Securities LLC cut its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 67.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,310 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,619,270,000 after buying an additional 508,570 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $656,309,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,866 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,527,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $497,009,000 after purchasing an additional 329,049 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $371,911,000 after purchasing an additional 220,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 8,340,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $331,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $41.47. The stock had a trading volume of 2,960,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,708,869. The firm's 50 day moving average is $41.44 and its 200 day moving average is $40.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.75, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,680.51. This represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $48.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp., through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, and distributes electricity in the United States. It operates through Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments. The company owns and operates coal-fired, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, and solar power generating facilities.